With King Charles and Queen Camilla set to watch one of the late monarch’s horses run at Epsom Races today, we look at where all of the late Queen’s mares are now
From her early childhood, horses were one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s biggest passions, and her son King Charles certainly seems to have inherited her interest.
When the late monarch died, Charles also inherited her horses, and today he will watch one of them – a filly called Treasure – run at Epsom Races in the Betfred Oaks race.
The late Queen was given her first pony aged just four years old. When her father King George VI died in 1952, she inherited his set of horses, and her passion for racing them never diminished throughout her life. After her death, Charles inherited about one-third of the late Queen’s stables – but he hasn’t kept all of them.
In the last year of the late Queen’s life, she had a whopping 37 in races last year and she was believed to have owned over 100 thoroughbreds.
Only a few months after her death, King Charles continued his mother’s tradition of selling horses at the Tattersalls sales in Newmarket – with as many as 14 going to new owners.
Reportedly, this earned the King over £1m, but that was just a fraction of the horses he owned and he still has plenty left – and the rest of his stable could be worth almost £30m.
Among the horses to be sold was Love Affairs, the Queen’s last-ever winner at Goodwood just two days before she passed away. 2020 Royal Ascot winner Tactical reportedly fetched £150,000 at the sales while Just Fine, who gave Charles his first Royal Silks winner, was sold for £300,000.
The 14 horses reportedly earned Charles £1,075,500 in total – averaging at over £75,000 each. It is estimated that around £36million was paid for horses over the three-day sales. The late Queen is believed to have made around £10m in prize money over her life.
A royal source confirmed previously that despite Charles reducing the number of horses he has, the sport would remain in the family.
They said: “The connection between the family and the horse racing industry will continue. The desire is to continue with the traditions and connections with Royal Ascot but not on the same scale as Her Majesty because she had a passion.”
Slipofthepen was one of the horses inherited by King Charles, and it is believed that he still owns dozens of thoroughbreds, and research conducted by The Guardian values the King’s stable at around £27m.
A version of this article was published in April 2023
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected]
